Coronavirus Australia: Lessons Australia refuses to learn from vaccine rollout

With half of Australia in lockdown as we trail the world with vaccination numbers, one expert has called out the key bungles in the nation’s rollout.

As millions of Australians remain in lockdown and frustrations linger over the nation’s bungled vaccine rollout, one expert has revealed the main problems Australia needs to address to get back on course.

The latest data shows Australia is last in the OECD vaccination rankings, with less than five per cent of the adult population fully vaccinated against the virus.

More than four months since the nation’s vaccine rollout began, director of the health program at the Grattan Institute, Stephen Duckett, says the program has been a series of bungles, in a piece written for The Conversation.

“At the six-week mark (into the rollout), I wrote about four ways the vaccine rollout had been bungled: The wrong pace, phasing, model and messaging,” he said.

People queue to enter the NSW Vaccination Centre in Homebush, Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/James Gourley

“Nearly three months on, sadly none have been fixed, and new symptoms of these blunders are emerging.”

Dr Duckett said Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s early message that the rollout was “a marathon, not a sprint” was problematic, and has continued throughout the “stroll out”.

The rhetoric has had continuing effects on the overall rollout, with a graph for Our World in Data showing Australia with the wooden spoon in the global race to get vaccinated, and trailing far behind Israel, which leads the pack with almost 60 per cent of its adult population fully vaccinated.

The phasing of the program is the second key error, Dr Duckett said, with the vaccination of high-risk groups in phase 1a, including quarantine and health workers, aged-care residents and workers, and people with a disability, still not wrapped up.

According to Dr Duckett the third bungle has been the program’s reliance on GPs to deliver the vaccines, rather than mass vaccination centres.

The Federal Government’s vaccine rollout has been a series of bungles, Stephen Duckett says. Picture: David Caird-Pool/Getty Images

While a mass vaccination hub run by the NSW State Government has been set up in Homebush, Sydney, and a mixed model of GPs and mass centres is in place, Dr Duckett expressed his concerns over the arrival of more Pfizer doses later in the year.

“Mass vaccination requires mass vaccination centres. The original Federal Government model placed almost sole reliance on GPs for the rollout. That didn’t work,” he said.

“Unfortunately, planning for the next stage – when more Pfizer doses start to flood into the country – seems to be going back to the old model of a GP emphasis.

“This isn’t consistent with a speedy mass rollout and harks back to the lethargic approach of the start of the year. The wrong pace still appears to be creating another bungle, the wrong model,” he said.

The messaging surrounding the rollout has also been plagued with issues, Dr Duckett said.

“The militarisation of the rollout. A navy commander, then an army general, and now the national security committee of cabinet have all been brought into the rollout fold,” he said.

“The military men are no doubt competent people, but the signal the Government is sending to the public service is appalling: That it’s not up to the task.”

Less than five per cent of the adult population in Australia has had both vaccine doses. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Lewins

Mr Duckett said the Federal Government also bungled its messaging around vaccine hesitancy, which has been further complicated by the changing AstraZeneca restrictions.

This week, with growing fears over the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant in major cities across the country, the PM backflipped on health advice regarding the AZ vaccine, and announced it would be made available to all adults, after consultation with their GP.

However, Mr Duckett said the AZ vaccine was now “indelibly tarnished” and was due to be phased out from the Government’s vaccination schedule from October.

“Over four months into the vaccine rollout, the bungling continues. It’s still too slow and badly managed, with devastating consequences for individuals and the economy. Can rollout 2.0 get it right? We can live in hope,” he said.